questions on multi-wing planforms

pTooner wrote:
...

Well, most tandem wing aircraft are designed to make normal stall
impossible. (the rutan designs for instance) Pitch stability is a problem
that I thought had been pretty well handled by airfoil design in canard
aircraft years ago. My thoughts (I wouldn't call it a design) are simply
two sets of biplane wings mounted fore and aft. Biplane wings don't
normally present much of an efficiency problem except for the bracing which
isn't stricly necessary (The hyperbipe was a pretty efficent design) I
certainly agree that handling especially in the pitch axis is the major
challenge, but I don't see why it should present a much bigger problem than
the flying flea family of aircraft where it was eventually solved
satisfactorily.

This sounds like sort of a biplane version of the dragonfly.

...
Perhaps, but it's been tried many times and with very limited success. I
know of NO attempt to build the 4 wing system that I envision. That seems
strange when you consider that about every imaginable combination has been
tried at one time or another.

Everytime I've had an idea for some way to build an airplane that I
had never seen before it took only a few minutes on the web to find
examples of the concpet that had already been built and flown.

So I daresay if you have a novel idea that has never been flown
there is probably a very good reason why it hasn't.

If you are merely interested in being able to get the plane
easiliy into a garage, there are many folding wing designs
to choose from or adapt. In addition to the Flying Flea,
the kitfox is another.

Regardless, good luck.

Didn't someone finally build an operable
ornithopter?


There have been many small (e.g. bird-sized) ones flown. You
can buy a plastic toy ornithopter for under $50.00 and there are
plans available on the web to build a rubber-bad powered version.


But have you looked at all the wires around most roads? Not an area I
would want to use for landing and takeoff.

Good point, but they aren't everywhere. ;-)


You have legal restrictions to be concerned with on public roads,
but there are private roads.